Generally speaking, financial assets become unclaimed three years after the date they can be legally claimed by the owner or right-holder, if the owner or right-holder is domiciled in Québec and did not make a claim, conduct a transaction or give instructions after that date.

To determine whether financial assets can be considered unclaimed, the holder must check for eligible activities (claims, transactions and instructions). The presence of eligible activities suggests that the client has not lost track of the property. However, if no eligible activities are found and certain other requirements are met, the financial assets can be considered unclaimed.

Eligible activities include the following:

• The holder updates a form containing information about the client after speaking to them.
• The client has the holder update their contact information.
• The holder has a meeting or phone conversation with the client, and there is a reliable record of the meeting, including the date (for example, a screenshot is considered reliable, but a scrap of paper or a Word document is not).
• The holder communicates with the client electronically (by email or some other means) and has proof that the exchange was successful (for example, a read receipt or reply from the client).
• The client views their file online, and a record of their visit is saved in the holder's system.

On their own, the following activities are not eligible:

• The client left instructions more than three years ago for the following to be done automatically:
  • renewing a term investment;
  • reinvesting dividends;
  • converting a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) into a registered retirement income fund (RRIF);
  • making minimum deposits into a specified account.
• The holder carries out systemic instructions.
• The holder mailed something to the client and it was not returned because of an incorrect address.
• A cheque sent by the holder was not cashed.

Under the Unclaimed Property Act, funds, securities and other property held by a securities adviser or broker in an unregistered account become unclaimed three years after the last eligible activity (claim, transaction or instruction) by the owner or right-holder, including the deposit of interest, dividends or other income generated by the property.

In the past, the start date of the three-year period was flexible. As explained in the Guide for Securities Registrants Concerning Mutual Fund Securities (IN-156-V) published in 2016, the three-year period began on the later of the following dates:

• the date on which the last instructions were received from the client;
• the date on which the client was deemed to be untraceable.

However, there is no longer any flexibility because it was difficult for some holders to determine whether a client was untraceable (the guide was removed from our website in 2018).

The three-year period therefore begins on the date of the last eligible activity (see “Eligible activities” above).

If a client has accounts in multiple branches of the same financial group, the fact that one of them is active does not necessarily mean that the others are as well. An account is considered active only if eligible activities are carried out in respect of it.

For an inactive account to be considered active, all the branches must have the client's up-to-date contact information (for example, if the client consented in writing to their information being shared within the group).

The branch where the inactive account is held must therefore contact the client using their up-to-date contact information in order to carry out an eligible activity and thereby activate the account.

If a client holds securities in an RRSP, the RRSP must be converted to a RRIF no later than December 31 of the year the client turns 71. The conversion date is important because it is used to determine whether the property is unclaimed. It is the date an amount “became due or payable" within the meaning of the Unclaimed Property Act 

Conversion by the client before December 31 of the year they turn 71

If the client converted their RRSP into a RRIF before December 31 of the year they turn 71, the amounts in the RRIF will become unclaimed three years after the last eligible activity (claim, transaction or instruction). The minimum withdrawals and the remaining value of the fund (total value of the RRIF minus the minimum withdrawals) must be remitted as unclaimed financial assets.

Conversion by the holder by December 31 of the year the client turns 71

If the holder converts the RRSP into a RRIF, the conversion must take place by December 31 of the year the client turns 71. The amounts held in the RRIF become unclaimed three years after the conversion, that is, by December 31 of the year the client turns 74, provided no claim was made, transaction conducted or instruction given by the client, and no minimum withdrawal was claimed in the three years following conversion by the holder.

The minimum withdrawals and the remaining value of the fund must be remitted as unclaimed financial assets.

Collapse of an RRSP by the holder when the client turns 71

If the rules in place allow the holder to collapse a client's RRSP when they turn 71, the resulting amounts become unclaimed financial assets three years after the collapse, provided no claim was made, transaction conducted or instruction given by the client.

Minimum withdrawals

Depending on the terms of the contract, the holder may be able to deposit minimum withdrawals by cheque or direct deposit into an existing account or open pending accounts at a financial institution.

If the minimum withdrawals from an unclaimed RRIF were deposited before June 1, 2022, into an existing account opened by the client, they do not have to be remitted to us. Likewise, they do not have to be remitted to us if the balance of the account they were deposited into was transferred to the Bank of Canada.

However, if the amounts held in a RRIF become unclaimed and the holder opened an account solely to deposit the minimum withdrawals from the RRIF, the minimum withdrawals made in the three years following conversion of the RRSP into a RRIF by the holder, as well as the residual value of the RRIF, must be recovered and remitted to us by the holder.

Unregistered self-directed account

The holder of an unregistered self-directed account must attempt to contact the client at least every three years in order to conduct an eligible activity in respect of the account. If the holder is unable to reach the client and there are no claims, transactions or instructions in respect of the account for three years, the account becomes an unclaimed financial asset and must be remitted to us.

Registered self-directed account

Registered self-directed accounts become unclaimed three years after the earlier of the following dates (provided there are no claims, transactions or instructions from the client):

• December 31 of the year the client turned 71;
• a different date set out in the contract or legislation.

Once the account is unclaimed, the holder must remit it to us.

When a client dies, it can be difficult to determine when the funds, securities and other property in their account became unclaimed financial assets and when they must be remitted to us. The date depends on the type of account.

Unregistered account

The general rule for unregistered accounts applies even in the case of a death. If there were no claims, transactions or instructions in respect of the funds, securities and other property in the account for three years, the holder must attempt to contact the client by means of a notice. If the holder does not hear from the client after sending the notice, the funds, securities and other property in the account become unclaimed. However, if the liquidator of the succession or a right-holder comes forward and eligible activities are conducted (see “Eligible activities” above), the funds, securities and other property in the account do not become unclaimed.

Registered account

For registered accounts, if there were no claims, transactions or instructions in respect of the funds, securities and other property in the account for three years, they become unclaimed three years after the earliest of the following dates:

• December 31 of the year the client turned 71;
• a different date set out in the contract or legislation;
• the date of the client's death.

If a holder finds out that a client died more than three years before the current fiscal year, the funds, securities and other property in the account become unclaimed in the fiscal year during which the holder learned of the client's death.

For example, a holder's fiscal year ends on December 31, 2021. On October 31, 2021, they find out that their client died on September 30, 2017. The property in the account therefore becomes unclaimed in the fiscal year ending on December 31, 2021.

The funds, securities and other property held by a securities broker or advisor in a tax-free savings account (TFSA) are also covered by the Unclaimed Property Act.

This property, as well as the related funds and income, become unclaimed three years after the date of the owner or right-holder's last claim, transaction or instruction.

Generally speaking, amounts payable under a pension or retirement plan become unclaimed three years after the earlier of the following dates, if there are no claims, transactions or instructions from the annuitant or member:

• December 31 of the year the annuitant or member turned 71;
• a different date set out in the contract or legislation.

Dates other than December 31 are often set out in a contract or legislation concerning public sector retirement plans. The date may come before December 31 of the year the annuitant or beneficiary turned 71. For example, under the Régime de retraite des employés du gouvernement et des organismes publics, employees cease to be covered on December 31 of the year they turn 69. In this case, amounts payable under the plan become unclaimed three years after that date if there are no claims, transactions or instructions from the employee.

The pension committee administrating a registered pension plan (RPP) can choose to refund a member's benefits under the plan if the value of the benefits accrued to the member is less than 20% of the maximum pensionable earnings established pursuant to the Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan for the year in which the member ceases to be an active member (second paragraph of section 66 of the Supplemental Pension Plans Act [CQLR, chapter R-15.1]). This can occur, for example, when an employee leaves their job.

If the pension committee sent the member a notice asking them to withdraw the amount but received no reply, the amount must be remitted to us three years after the date of the notice.

If the pension committee was unable to send the notice using reasonable means, the amount will become an unclaimed financial asset three years after the date the notice should have been sent.

Note that the amount is covered by the Unclaimed Property Act if an analysis of the facts shows that the member had no choice but to withdraw the amount from the retirement plan.

Because they are the one who is in contact with the client, the securities broker or advisor who opened the client's account is always responsible for determining when the securities became unclaimed and remitting them to us, regardless of how the securities were registered with the investment fund.

This replaces the information in the Guide for Securities Registrants Concerning Mutual Fund Securities (IN-156-V) published in 2016.

Segregated funds are considered pension contracts for purposes of the Unclaimed Property Act. As a result, amounts payable under a segregated fund, be it a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), a registered retirement income fund (RRIF) or another type of plan, may have to be remitted to us.

The amounts to remit and the timing of the remittance vary.

The last holder of the segregated fund dies before payments begin

If the last holder of the segregated fund dies before the payments under a life annuity or other annuity contract begin, the amounts to remit correspond to the value of the benefits accrued under the contract as at the date of the remittance.

The amounts become unclaimed financial assets three years following the last holder's death if there were no claims, transactions or instructions during that time or, if the last holder died more than three years prior, on the date the insurer learns of the holder's death.

Payments have begun and there is no confirmation of death

In the case of a life annuity, the amount to remit corresponds to one of the following, at the holder's discretion: the total of the payments that became due but were not made and the interest accrued at the rate set out in the contract to the date of the yearly remittance, or the total of the previous amount and the residual value of the annuity at that date.

In the case of another type of annuity contract, the amount to remit corresponds to the total of the following: the payments that became due but were not made, the interest accrued at the rate set out in the contract to the date of the remittance and the residual value of the benefits accrued under the contract as at that date.

In either case, in the absence of claims, transactions or instructions, the amounts become unclaimed financial assets three years after the date the payments began. If the date is not stated in the annuity contract, they become unclaimed financial assets three years after December 31 of the year the annuitant turned 71.

The annuitant or successor annuitant dies after payments have begun – Guaranteed life annuity

If the annuitant or successor annuitant dies after payments under a guaranteed life annuity have begun, the amounts to remit are those guaranteed under the annuity contract. 

Amounts due under the annuity contract become unclaimed financial assets three years after the last claim, transaction or instructions. They must be remitted in a lump sum.

For more information about remitting amounts due under a segregated fund, see the instructions for remitting amounts payable under a registered pension or retirement plan or contract in the Guide for Holders: Unclaimed Property (BD-81.5.G-V).